This invention relates generally to glare shields for rear view mirrors and more specifically to glare shields for exterior rear view mirrors.
Glare from reflected headlamps in rear view mirrors of automobiles is a common annoyance for a driver of an automobile. In order to minimize the glare, interior rear view mirrors are often equipped with some mechanism to reduce the glare associated with headlights from a trailing vehicle. Such mirrors are common, and one such mirror which could be used as an interior nonglare mirror is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,860 issued July 9, 1985 to James A. Roof. Therefore, glare from the headlights of a following vehicle reflected by the inlerior rear view mirror need no longer be an irritant to the driver of the automobile.
The above type of mirror, however, is not entirely satisfactory for use with exterior rear view mirrors. One reason being that the required shifting of the position of the prismatic mirror from inside the vehicle increases the complexity and manufacturing cost of the operating mechanism In addition, use of a prismatic mirror as an exterior rear view mirror can result in the driver seeing ghost images reflected by the face of the mirror.
There have been other attempts to prevent exterior rear view mirror glare, one of which is shown in an advertisement appearing in the newspaper, USA Today, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 1989, page 8D, bottom, entitled "You'll never be blinded from the back again-". This advertisement shows a device called GLAREBUSTERS, which is similar to the present invention in that it is intended to decrease headlight glare of vehicles approaching from behind. GLAREBUSTERS night driving shields comprise a two unit set, each part of which comprises a tinted plate of DuPont LUCITE and a plurality of suction cups to removably attach the plate to a car window. Although this type of shield may serve to reduce headlight glare, one problem is that of not being large enough to block the glare if the driver moves to another position relative to the GLAREBUSTERS. Also, since the GLAREBUSTERS are removable, they can be lost if misplaced when not in use and could fall off of the car window during operation.
Another antiglare shield similar to that of the present invention can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,251 issued Dec.24, 1985 to Waldemar Murjahn. This patent discloses an antiglare shield for exterior rear view mirrors which comprises an antiglare sheet, a stop, and a section which fits in an interior of a vehicle window shaft. This antiglare shield covers a larger area than that provided by the GLAREBUSTERS do, and has a part of the shield wedged into the window shaft. But this shield is not integral with the car, so it can be misplaced when not in use as is the case with the GLAREBUSTERS.
French patent 2,500,795 issued to Jean-Claude Tamagna discloses still another form of an antiglare shield. This particular shield comprises a plate of antiglare material which is installed in a car window in such a way that it may be rotated to be between a driver and an exterior mirror, or can be stored inside a window shaft of a vehicle. This device is pivoted at a front edge and can be rotated into position when required. This device has the advantage of being connected to the car so that it is not as likely to be lost or misplaced. One problem with this device, however, is that it needs a large space in the interior of the window shaft to be stored properly, which makes the use of this device impractical.